Raman investigation of orthorhombic M^IIGa₂(S, Se)₄compounds

Abstract

Raman investigation of isostructural polycrystalline MII Ga 2 (S, Se)4 compounds with MII = Pb, Sr, Eu, Yb and Ca was performed. We observed that the effect of MII atomic mass on the phonon frequencies is negligible and that the vibrations are essentially influenced by the sizes of the MII cations. As the effects of cation substitution are small we concluded that the orthorhombic thiogallates MII Ga 2 S4 exhibit nearly the same phonon energies: about 280 cm−1 (∼35 meV) and 360 cm−1 (∼45 meV) for the most intense vibration modes. The substitution of S atoms by heavier Se atoms causes the shift of the Raman spectrum to lower frequencies. The orthorhombic MII Ga 2 Se4 compounds present phonon energy at about 185 cm−1 (∼23 meV) for the most intense vibration mode. Results confirm that a molecular model is more adequate to describe the vibrations of these compounds than the factor-group analysis.